How We Make Home a Priority

Today I am sharing how we make home a priority, and how you can too!

I’ve been thinking a lot about home lately. I love to be home. I love the feeling of home. The smell of home. I love that we’ve made home a priority. It wasn’t always this way, but I’m so thankful we’ve created a home centered life.

I was driving down a winding back road not very long ago on our way home from running errands. It was an unseasonably warm December day, so I had the windows down. I was basking in the sunshine and enjoying the scenery. My daughter was in the backseat singing her little heart out. I noticed all the old farmhouses strewn about the countryside. The old barns which once stood stately and full of life were starting to decay. The weeds had overtaken most of the pastures. Hay was rotting where it was cut.

Close to a mile into my journey I started to notice a trend about these once vibrant homes.

There was no smoke rolling from the chimneys. There was no livestock behind the rusty fences. No clothes on the clothesline, no toys strewn about the yard. No cars in the driveway. Not even a cat on the porch. Even the newer homes had this same sad facade. They struck me as dead and lonely. There were no signs of life. Then the sad thought occurred to me, we’ve abandoned home.

How we make home a priority

We choose to stay home as much as possible. It didn’t just happen. We had to choose it. We had to say no to extra activities. It was difficult in the beginning, but it gets easier with time. We simply had to choose home. We opted out of most sports (Our son still played baseball, soccer, took music lessons and did karate. Just not all at once.) We streamlined our schedules and made the intentional choice to stay home in the evenings. It’s impossible to have a home centered life without choosing to be at home. Even when we lived in the suburbs, we made the choice to stay home as much as we could.

We have things that need us at home. My sourdough starter and kefir grains need to be fed. We have livestock that we milk, and care for. Chickens that need looked after. Cats, a dog, and four little rabbits. They all need us to be home. We have more responsibilities at home than outside of the home.

“Home is the nicest word there is.” -Laura Ingles Wilder

Years ago, I learned to prioritize my days at home. Part of choosing to stay home more was coming up with a reasonable schedule for running errands. I can’t stay home all the time, but I knew I could be wiser with my trips to town. I came up with an easy homemaking routine that helps me organize my days and prioritize my time at home and away from home. You can read that here if you’re interested: How To Create an Old-Fashioned Homemaking Routine. Having one day a week to run errands instead of running out whenever I remembered something we “needed” was key to making home a priority. It also cut back on mileage on my car and saved a ton on gas money!

Home is our life. We educate our children here, we raise our food here, we build stronger relationships with each other here. Home is the place our children grow to become lifelong friends, and our marriages are strengthened. Our homes should be our safe haven, our shelter from the storm, and our refuge. What have we given up by choosing to abandon home?

How You Can Make Your Home Your Priority

It’s easy for someone like me to love being at home. I’m a natural homebody. I have friends, though, that can not say the same. They want to be home more, but they really don’t love being home. I’ve come up with a few easy things that may help you love your home more and spending a little more time there.

• Find a hobby you love to do at home. Crocheting, knitting, woodworking, restoring old cars, or building puzzles. Find something that you love to do and do more of it at home. Put it on your schedule like you would any other event. Make it a priority until being at home becomes one.
• Get something that depends on you. It doesn’t have to be an animal but find something that needs you to be home to care for it. A sourdough starter is a good place to start, and you get bread too. Win-win in my opinion! How to Make a Sourdough Starter
• Declutter. Maybe you’re stressed at home because you’re stressed from the clutter. Trust me when I say that decluttering can radically change the environment your home. It can even make you love home a little (or a lot) more!
  • How to Quickly and Easily Declutter Living Spaces
  • 32 Things to Get Rid of Right NOW!
  • Simplifying Your Home + A Free Worksheet

“There is nothing like staying home for real comfort.” -Jane Austen

• Redecorate. Now, I’m not usually one to tell you to spend money, BUT I do know that redecorating a small space in our home can make a big impact. I made myself a sweet little reading nook in our living room, and used only thigs we already had. It made me love cozying up in my chair and spending my evenings there. (How to Create a Cozy Reading Nook in Your Home) Make a space yours. Our homes should be a reflection of us, and when they are, we’ll enjoy spending more time there.
• Plan your meals and cook at home. Nothing is harder on your budget than eating out. If you’ve got meat thawing in the fridge, you’ll need to be home to make sure you’re home so it’s used. I recently shared how I cook from scratch more, even though I don’t enjoy cooking. How To Cook More Meals From Scratch (Even when you don’t like to cook!)
• Become the host. If giving up your time out with friends or family makes you sad, may I suggest you invite them in. Pull out the board games, and old family photos, make a few snacks, a pot of coffee, and have a good old fashioned get together. I’ve learned over the years that hospitality doesn’t have to be elaborate. It doesn’t have to mean bringing out Grandma’s fancy dishes, and a four-course meal. Just open your door and allow people to be comfortable. They’ll appreciate that way more anyway.

“A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.” – Anonymous

Regardless of the size, location, or condition of your house, YOU make it home. After all, a house is made of walls and beams. The love we put into it makes it home.

As always, thank you so much for spending a tiny part of your day with me.

Here’s an image to pin for later…